1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to embroidery systems and methods and particularly to improvements in such systems and methods through the use of a Windows CE based graphical user interface.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Embroidery systems having an embroidery machine for automatically stitching embroidery stitch patterns on a garment are well known in the art, including such systems employing microprocessor control to create customized embroidery patterns, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,012,402; 5,988,083; 5,865,134; 5,924,374; and 5,924,372. In addition, such prior art systems have employed an embedded ROM for the control software, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,134, as well as using removable ROM cards to store embroidery pattern data, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,083. However, none of these prior art systems known to applicants have employed a flexible graphical user interface having the stability or on/off characteristics provided through Windows CE nor separated the user interface from the system controller in such a manner in which the graphical user interface has such characteristics and further enables the system functionality of the embroidery system to be readily enhanced by selectably adding software modules to the graphical user interface, such as, for example, to provide maintenance monitoring of the embroidery system locally or over the Internet or to enable communications with the embroidery machine over a network. These disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention through the use of a Windows CE based graphical user interface or GUI disposed between the user and the machine controller in which the graphical user interface has a defined system architecture which may be selectably enhanced through the addition of software modules to selectably enhance the system functionality of the embroidery system.
Existing embroidery machines are built with a machine controller that includes a user interface for the machine operator to control the machine. Typical functions handled by the user-interface include loading a design to be stitched, assigning appropriate thread colors for various parts of the design, executing machine commands such as trims, speed changes, start and stops etc. The user interfaces are traditionally not graphical in nature. These machines typically do not have automatic functionality to collect production data (number of stitches sewn, up-time and down-time of the machine, cause of down time (thread breakages etc.)). Additionally, these machines have traditionally not been created with built-in network functionality.
The lack of graphical user interface makes the operation of an embroidery machine difficult and requires skill and sophistication on the operator's part. Also, in large embroidery factories with large collections of embroidery machines, the ability to network embroidery machines and the collection of production data to monitor productivity in the plant is of great importance.
Attempts to solve this problem include creating a new m/c controller with custom hardware and softwares and replacing the machine controller with a PC and software running on the PC for the GUI. This approach solves the problem of the lack of graphical user interfaces; however, this approach has drawbacks in that the machine controller is an important and complicated part of the embroidery machine and replacing machine controllers is expensive since it involves a long design life cycle. Further, designing a graphical user interface with custom hardware and software requires skill and sophistication and is a process with significant risk. Since the machine controller cannot be replaced trivially, retrofitting machines in the field with new technology is not possible.
In another approach, a personal computer (PC) is used as a machine controller. Some additional hardware is required to drive the embroidery machine. The user interface for the machine controller is built as an application running on the native operating system of the PC. Typically, these operating systems have been either Microsoft Windows 3.1, Windows 95, or Windows 98. While this approach overcomes the disadvantage of designing custom hardware and software to create the graphical user interface, it still suffers certain drawbacks. Traditionally, the operating systems on traditional personal computers are generally not robust as they have not been designed to run in an industrial environment where significant down times are not acceptable. Moreover, Windows operating systems have significantly high boot (startup sequences) times which means first turning on the embroidery machine which takes a long time (greater than one minute). For the same reason as in the first approach, retrofitting existing machines in the field is not possible.
The present invention presents a new and unique improvement to an embroidery machine. The invention has two parts. The first part of the invention relates to a Windows CE based front end to create a graphical user interface to replace the user interface of the existing machine controller, and an interface to the existing machine controller for the purpose of controlling the embroidery machine. This interface preferably consists of a serial connection from the Windows CE based front end and the existing machine controller for the purposes of communicating commands, and a software protocol definition and implementation that specifics the rules for communication. The second part of the invention relates to a plug-in interface that allows the selective addition of software components that enhance the embroidery functionality of the embroidery machine to optionally perform functions such as: a) production monitoring; b) maintenance monitoring; c) embroidery design creation; and d) embroidery machine networking.
The advantage offered by a Windows CE based front end provides the advantage of fast boot times as well as a simpler and more robust operating systems that can perform reliably in an industrial setting. Further, retrofitting existing machines with new technology in accordance with the present invention merely involves plugging the Windows CE based computer with the interface into the machine controller with a simple serial connection and loading the software that implements the communication protocol into the machine controller memory. The software plug-in interface allows a modular expansion of the embroidery functionality of the embroidery machine, thus enabling the construction of different configurations for different consumers.